quite a good trade if you like doing the infantry thing, only you don't. you will end up either stagging on at HQ ARRC till the end of time or tagging an infanate number of bad people that the RAF have just visited and bureying them. Long and short of it is this, join up and get a trade. There are lots of trades in the RLC to choose from. Good luck pal.

I started out as an Air Despatcher. It's a nightmare. Think Air Force Ground loadie without any of the decent accomodation or humane treatment. You'll probably have to work 25 hours a day constantly just driving a forklift around Lyneham.

Pioneer, whatever the truth of the matter is a trade that is tarnished with the mantle of "Stagging on, and Digging Graves". I can't see any reason why being a pioneer is better than joining the infantry.

Pet Op is not something I know a great deal about, except that they're very important in the logistics chain and there aren't many of them. I could be wrong, but to me, that spells continuous deployment.

Infanry can do ASSAULT Pioneer, ie demolitions, minewarfare, good at trenching and stuff. Def better than RLC Pioneer. RLC pioneer units are horrible to in my experince (Sorry anyone). That said, Pet op and Port Op are good moves. You'll get all your licences too.

I started out as an Air Despatcher. It's a nightmare. Think Air Force Ground loadie without any of the decent accomodation or humane treatment. You'll probably have to work 25 hours a day constantly just driving a forklift around Lyneham.

Pioneer, whatever the truth of the matter is a trade that is tarnished with the mantle of "Stagging on, and Digging Graves". I can't see any reason why being a pioneer is better than joining the infantry.

Pet Op is not something I know a great deal about, except that they're very important in the logistics chain and there aren't many of them. I could be wrong, but to me, that spells continuous deployment.

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Continuous Deployments is quite a true statement when it comes to the Pet Op trade but thats because we are a small trade, You get most of your licences and if your quick I think the Bonus for joining is still in place, Â£1000 cant be bad.
The postings for us are not great but promotion for lower ranks is really good at the moment (aslong as you have a brain)

Infanry can do ASSAULT Pioneer, ie demolitions, minewarfare, good at trenching and stuff. Def better than RLC Pioneer. RLC pioneer units are horrible to in my experince (Sorry anyone). That said, Pet op and Port Op are good moves. You'll get all your licences too.

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Sprjim is being a little bit harsh on the pioneers. Having spent a fair amount of time in the Regiment, there is more to it than stagging on, war graves etc etc.

You can get a variety of skills within the Pioneers, for example:

Assault Pioneer
Carpenter/Joiner
Bricklayer/Concretor
War Graves (mandatory on first posting in to 23 Regt as a young Tom)
Defence Skills (mandatory on first posting in to 23 Regt as a young Tom)
Cat C licences
MHE (including LWT) licences
Brecon (if you're that way inclined)
Radio Operator

Please bear in mind that you won't get all these in your first year contrary to what some young soldiers believe! Also, before people state that you can do all of these courses elsewhere in the Corps/Army, I am just saying what is available to Pioneers - somewhat more than just stagging on and War Graves.

People are right to say that sometimes life in the Pioneers is pretty poor (always seem to be at the bottom of the list for kit and top of the list for jobs nobody else wants). However, I just wanted to put in some balance in on this thread - pioneering can be bloody good at times. Some of the jobs are repetitive and dull (welcome to the Army!) others are interesting, dangerous and even fun.

I enjoyed my time at 23 Pnr Regt enormously - on the balance of good times/bad times, I would say the balance was 75/25 - my current job doesn't even come close to that.

I would agree with untallguy that the pioneers are not all that bad, but I suspect his experiences are from the viewpoint of an officer and not wholly appropriate. Don't get me wrong I think the pioneers are awesome blokes and the unsung heroes of the RLC if not the Army. However, if you have options such as Pet Op or Port Op I suggest you look there, whilst you would proabably enjoy the cameraderie of the chunks, I doubt that the heavy emphasis on manual labour would fulfill you mentally for a full career.